The John Dolphin Fellowship

Many members of The Chromatographic Society and separation science community will be aware of the sad passing at the age of 62 of John Dolphin in 2007. John Dolphin was a long-serving member of the Executive Committee of The Chromatographic Society in the 1980s including posts as Treasurer and then Chair from 1985 to 1987.

Following his untimely death, his family formed the John Dolphin Trust in his memory to benefit a range of charitable activities. In February 2009 the Chromatographic Society were honoured to receive a significant donation in John’s memory from the trust to be used “towards sponsorship of students undertaking their PhD’s”. This request is entirely in keeping with John’s outlook on separation science.

In the early-1990s John was responsible for setting up the “Hypersil Young Chromatographer of the Year” competition and award. The photograph below shows him alongside Harry Ritchie, John Knox and Mike Cooke (President of The Chromatographic Society at the time) at one “Hypersil Young Chromatographer of the Year” award symposium.

Following ratification by the full Executive Committee of The Chromatographic Society, the donation will be used to provide support for doctoral researchers working in British universities each year to attend and present their work at a major overseas conference in separation science. This scheme will begin for conferences in the calendar year 2010, and will provide between £500 and £1000 for doctoral researchers to attend international scientific meetings. With involvement of the Society’s own money and, possible matching contributions from other interested parties, it is hoped that John Dolphin Fellowships will be available for a minimum of fifteen years.

*You must be a UK registered PhD/DPhil researcher and working in the area of separation science or demonstrate a significant use of chromatography or related separation science in your work to be considered for a Fellowship. Note the applicant’s research work must be predominantly undertaken in the UK also. Your application must also be supported by a letter of endorsement from your academic supervisor. The Chromatographic Society welcomes applications and looks forward to helping support your research in separation science.